Interview with John Dykes - "Chelsea should have won the Premier League last season"

John Dykes, Lead Presenter, EPL worldwide content

John Dykes has been the face of Premier League football in Asia for more than a decade now. He also hosted various other sports tournaments, such as the Augusta Masters in 2001 and tennis at Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows. From 2001 to 2010, he hosted the regular Live Matchday coverage of the Premier League, apart from shows like Football Focus and First Edition. In 2010, he joined the Premier League as the lead presenter for their worldwide content service.

Sportskeeda spoke to him recently about his role with the Premier League, his thoughts on the Indian Super League and working with prominent players and managers in the world of football.

You’ve been associated with the Premier League for a long time now. What do you think has been pivotal to the Premier League’s huge success, both in England and abroad?

The Premier League has existed since 1992, so it has kind of had the legacy of tremendous international interest in English football that existed from before. So the foundation was definitely in place, but what the Premier League did was they set a professional standard in terms of the quality of the product, the broadcast and the quality of the branding.

They then took it to another level, where they engaged with international audiences, supported by coverage on television, and by increased activity by the clubs in terms of merchandising and increasing engagement with their international fan base. That’s why it is the international giant that it is.

Arsene Wenger was very appreciative of the thought process behind the Indian Super League. You saw your first match of the tournament this week. What are your thought personally about the league?

Okay, so I’ve been watching the league since it started, as it is also televised in the UK. A lot of my colleagues involved in the production have given me a lot of feedback about it. What I needed to see first-hand, although I did see it on the television and read it in reports, was the quality of the staging of the tournament, which has been very impressive. Right from the facilities, from the grounds, the stadia, the whole approach to setting up the games, the professionalism with which the league is being run, it has all been great.

You can see the result, just as I did. Even on a Monday night, to see the fans turning out in numbers, to see them engaging, was really impressive. I know the TV viewing figures have been immense, and the league has been supported by a very strong TV product, which is very important. I think Arsene Wenger was right, this is an exciting development, and now that it is up and running, all the players that are here, will go back, around the world, and spread the word about how good a product this is, and it can only improve and strengthen year by year.

Is there any feature the ISL can adopt immediately from all that has been perfected by the Premier League over the years?

I think, immediately, what you need a is a guarantee of quality of competition, that on any given day, any team can beat another team, that on any day, there will be a commitment to win the match. That is precisely what sets the Premier League apart. The strength in depth that exists among all the teams, if anybody lets their standards slip for a moment, they willl be beaten, and we have reminders of that every weekend in our league. That demonstrates the integrity of the tournament.

If the ISL gets there, and let’s face it, we are seeing something similar funnily enough! How many points separate the eight teams? Not many! That is a great start, everybody still have a chance of making the semi-finals. Imagine if we had a couple of teams running away with it, and teams at the bottom getting thumped, that would have been disappointing.

What do you think of the participation of international players, some of who have played at major Premier League clubs?

I think it is very important that the marquee players are involved. This is an aspirational market, in a broad sporting sense, and people need heroes, need idols to look upto. Their presence in the team is important to galvanize the supporters.

In terms of performance, let’s be fair, you bring a guy like Robert Pires out of retirement, he isn’t going to sprint up and down the wing like he used to in his Arsenal days, but what he can do is bring his intelligence, his proven track of winning into playing a different role, like Del Piero, who is looking to bring the best out of his teammates. If they don’t perform, I don’t think you should level that criticism against them, it comes down to the overall squad as a whole.

I think the players that have clearly stepped up and delivered, have been Nicolas Anelka, at Mumbai, who has carried their attack, and Elano, who has been scoring goals for fun. He is still young, compared to the others, and he is performing like he did for Manchester City. What I can say, is that all the marquee players are performing, they aren’t shirking their duties, and injury notwithstanding, they are out there and going for it, whether it’s Capdevila or Materazzi.

Do you see the Barclays Asia Trophy coming to India soon, what with prominent clubs like Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City regular participants?

A very good question, though that decision is not down to me but the people who take the strategic decisions at the sponsors and the Premier League itself. The Premier League does have a partnership with the ISL, so there is engagement between them. My simple answer though, would be that I don’t know.

On a personal level, I would love to see it, I would really like the biggest clubs to come to India and play, and I think I can safely say that it is going to be a reality before too long.

You have had a very long tenure with ESPNStar earlier and now. Tell us how it was working with prominent players/ coaches in the world of football.

Some of my memorable moments would be when we first started broadcasting around Asia, we were lucky enough to have people like Sir Bobby Robson, Bryan Robson and Ian Rush, who came out to work with us. That is when we began to realise we have something special going here, you know you’re attracting guys like that, you’re broadcasting all around Asia, the fans were going absolutely nuts, that was really good.

To be able to meet these guys first hand, you know I grew up idolising Bryan Robson, and to be able to work with him and Ian Rush was just sensational. I also was privileged, when I was working with ESPNStar, to be able to do the Football Up Close series, where I went and interviewed players and coaches. I was able to sit down with contemporary players like Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, Alan Shearer, spend time learning more about them and their careers, and on a personal level, that was so satisfying to be able to talk to those guys, really brilliant.

I’ve also been lucky since I moved to England to work with the Premier League specifically, to have been able to work with a lot more contemporary managers and players. Roberto Martinez came in and worked as a pundit, he was absolutely brilliant, the kind of insight they offer. Similarly when Sam Allardyce came in, you realise you are talking to a guy who had just gone on to beat Liverpool and that’s fantastic. All that insight, fresh and direct from the league, I really enjoy my job when I get that.

Tell us a little bit about your role with the Premier League.

What I do with the Premier League is very interesting. I am part of what we call a content service. We are effectively a TV content, which is available to broadcast partners across the world. Star in India, we have partners in Africa, in other parts of Asia, North America and the Gulf region. We offer them high-quality English language TV service that they can use as they see fit, whether they do it on match-days, or they can use our support programming like Football Today or FanZone.

What it means is I can walk on the streets in England, and no one will recognize me, but when I jump onto a plane and come here to India or go to Africa, people know me. It makes me proud to be associated with it.

Players who have recently retired, are much more open to getting into the studio, analyzing and breaking down games. What do you think is the driving force behind this, wherein people are much more open to doing this?

It is very interesting, and I think you are alluding to Gary Neville, who has been doing outstanding work on Sky. Paul Scholes has started as well, Jamie Carragher is also working at Sky. Then there’s also BT Sports, where guys like Owen Hargreaves and Steve McManaman are working. Michael Owen is also working with us.

I suppose in a financial sense, these guys earn so much, they are probably set for life. However, they also understand how big a part the media is of football these days, and so they engage much more readily. Previously, most players would have gone into coaching and management but now they work more with the media. I can’t tell you why the preference has changed.

But in some cases, they do both, for example, Gary Neville works with England as well, maybe that satisfies him. His brother Phil has been working with us as a pundit recently, and of course he was involved with Manchester United last season. I was working with the World Cup broadcast in Africa, and Ryan Giggs was working with us. He is very keen on becoming a manager very soon, and he was doing his FIFA pro-licenses back in the summer, and I don’t seem him going into the media, but all of them recognise the media is an option.

Having been involved with the Premier League for quite some time, which were the most exciting title races and relegation battles in your opinion?

The best title race will probably be last season, when it looked like it would go down to the last day. Liverpool came very close until they fell away right at the end, and I think they would be feeling they should have won it. Chelsea, I think Chelsea were the ones who really blew it, as they really should have won it last season but kept slipping up against the so-called smaller teams. The team that was on top the longest was actually Arsenal, so obviously, they too will feel as though they should have won it.

Back in 2011, City won the title thanks to that crazy Aguero goal against QPR, that was nuts, I’ve never seen anything like that!

In terms of relegation battles, I don’t know if you remember this, but Bryan Robson took West Bromwich Albion to safety many years back on the last day of the season, and they escaped despite being bottom of the table at Christmas!

What do you think of the upcoming Barclays Premier League LIVE screening? How do you think it will help the Premier League grow in India?

It is a really important event, as it is the second time it will be happening (Johannesburg was the first). The idea is that it gives the Premier League the chance to take the entire experience to a very essential market. India being a huge supporter of the Premier League, what it does is that it gives a fan park environment, the games will be telecast on big screens, legends like Peter Schmeichel and Robbie Fowler will be there for the broadcast.

The Premier League trophy will be there, the fans will be able to get close to it, they can learn about their clubs, they can understand aspects about viewing a game live, we turn up the sound, basically we make you feel like you are at a game. There is a skills zone, where you can test yourself against the best from the Premier League, we have community coaches, conducting sessions to give you an idea of the quality and technique needed to succeed in the Premier League.

The clubs will be here, and they will be represented, for example, Crystal Palace are doing a search for a next star, as they look to try and find young Indian talent, which they’ll be able to gauge on the mini-pitch we’ll have at the event. We expect about 12,000 fans each day, of the two day event. And of course, we’ll have the matches themselves, where we’ll have fans of both Man United and Liverpool for the coverage. That is a game that polarises opinion across the globe.

Having started your career as a DJ in University, then working as a columnist, to now being on TV, have you ever considered a return to writing?

I do write sometimes, I write some blogs, and I occasionally do write articles, it’s just a question of finding time to be honest! When I grow older, I’ll probably sit down and write down some of my memories. I’ll be writing some stuff soon, a couple of articles based on my experiences in India this week, and my views on the ISL, so you keep an eye out for my articles in India in the next couple of weeks.

Thanks a lot for the time John, it was a pleasure talking to you!

You’re most welcome, and I hope you come along next month to the BPL screening event! All the best, thank you, bye!